University of South Florida

WAUCHULA — It may take Nancy Geffner two-and-a-half hours to get from her Oviedo home to Wauchula in southwest Florida to volunteer at an ape sanctuary, but the drive does not matter. "I've just fallen in love with great apes," said the special needs teacher. "They are so much like us. They are warm, they are loving; unfortunately, they are taken advantage of by people." Nestled on 100 acres near Wauchula is the Center for Great Apes, a haven for orangutans and chimpanzees that have been rescued or have been retired from the entertainment industry, research, or from the exotic pet trade. Wauchula, population 4,368, is 100 miles southwest of Orlando and 50...

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WAUCHULA — It may take Nancy Geffner two-and-a-half hours to get from her Oviedo home to Wauchula in southwest Florida to volunteer at an ape sanctuary, but the drive does not matter.
"I've just fallen in love with great apes," said the special...

Valencia College's 15th annual Dance Summer Repertory Concert is this weekend, 8 p.m. July 10-11 in the Performing Arts Center on Valencia's East Campus.
The concert will showcase the work of high-school students who participate in the Valencia Summer...

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TALLAHASSEE — State money for several projects in Central Florida, including $15 million for the University of Central Florida downtown campus, vaporized Tuesday as Gov. Rick Scott vetoed $461 million in spending before signing the budget.
Orlando...

How big is too big at UCF?
State education leaders questioned the future size of the student body at University of Central Florida during a meeting Wednesday.
"What is your long-range plan for size? Do you have one?" asked Norman Tripp, a...

TALLAHASSEE — Lawmakers working on a budget are stuck on major differences over health care and conservation spending, but projects in the Central Florida districts of Senate President Andy Gardiner and House Speaker Steve Crisafulli also are hurdles to a...

UCF's presentation to the Florida Board of Governors was canceled next week and will be pushed back until September, university spokesperson Christine Dellert said Tuesday.
UCF officials were supposed to provide more details about the $200 million campus...

Here is good news for UCF students: The university is planning to freeze tuition, as well as room and board and other fees, for the 2015-16 school year. University of Central Florida trustees are meeting Thursday to approve a $1.49 billion budget, and...

When the new University of Central Florida Foundation chief executive officer starts his job on June 1, he will make $425,000 a year, a 61-percent salary increase from his predecessor.
UCF said Friday that Michael Morsberger, whose past job brought...

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In June 2014, the governor and the Legislature directed $21.8 million in new money, known as performance funding, to the University of Central Florida as a reward for its excellence and improvement in areas from graduation and retention rates, to...

The University of Central Florida and its partners have submitted their final proposal in their effort to win a $110 million Department of Defense contract for the new Osceola tech center.The Florida Advanced Manufacturing Research Center is one of...

TALLAHASSEE — Despite having one of the most powerful state legislators behind the project, funding for the proposed UCF downtown campus isn't specifically set out in the budget — at least not yet.
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Even as the University of Central Florida has transformed from a commuter school into the second-biggest institution in the country, some alumni are concerned its endowment is lagging behind.
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The University of Central Florida earned the third highest ranking out of the state's 11 public universities, meaning UCF could receive additional money that can go toward hiring faculty and other needs.
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TAMPA — The Florida Department of Law Enforcement has opened a preliminary investigation into the findings of a forensic team from the University of South Florida that has been examining burial grounds at the notorious Dozier School for Boys in Marianna....

Some Floridians couldn't resist the urge to boast last year after we passed New York to become the nation's third most-populous state. But here's a more humbling statistic: Florida still ranks in the bottom half of states — far behind New York — when it...

First elected to the Florida Legislature in 2000, Republican Andy Gardiner of Orlando will spend his final two years in the state Capitol as the Senate's president. Gardiner and the House's top officer, Republican Steve Crisafulli of Merritt Island,...